Reports about casualties, owner and name changes and other interesting incidents

Olympic Shipping on Apr 20, 2016, announced that it has signed a contract with an international customer for the "Olympic Octopus" which was actually being laid up in Aalesund. The contract duration was 12 months plus an option of six months. The ship was already beging prepared for the contract starting in the North Sea in July.

On Apr 19, 2016, the "Gründling" was dispatched to the sinking site of the Donau ferry at Mariaposching which suddenly had foundered at 9.45 a.m. amid the fairway of the Danube. The cable ferry was still attached underwater to the tension cables. After the sinking the police and a rescue helicopter were sent to the accident site, a total of around 140 people, also including fire brigade, water rescue and emergency services. The three people who were on the ferry, saved themselves swimming to the shore of the river which had a temperature of 12.5 degrees C. There were two passengers and the skipper on board. All were taken to hospital with hypothermia. A vehicle and a tractor sank with the ferry. While the tractor was still on board, the so-called sprinter was washed away by the flow. Only the fork of the tractor and the mast of the ferry stuck out of the water. The 89-year-old ferry did not have an engine, but was pulled by a rope across the river. The towers, which held the ferry, were additionally secured after the sinking due to the fear the rope could break and endanger people. Ship traffic on the Danube has been banned from the lock in Straubing to Deggendorf port. The "Gründling" was was converted immediately for crane operation and ordered for the salvage of sunken car to sinking site upriver. The ferry was resting on a water depth of about 2,5 meters, it still the tractor with a trailer. The car had drifted around 200 meters on the river bottom. A trailer should be fixed on the ferry deck and then disconnected from the tractor. A diving teamhad to stop its work because of the strong current. Because the diver's safety was at risk, the salvage work was initially canceled. Because of the current and the high water level, the wreck should now be recovered later in the week. In addition, another salvage ship from Passau area was summoned to the accident site.
German reports with photos:
www.idowa.de/gall...www.donaukurier.d...www.tvaktuell.com...www.tvaktuell.com...www.idowa.de/inha...www.spiegel.de/pa...

Kuwait loaded crude oil onto a supertanker, shipping data shows, despite a workers’ strike that has cut its output by 60 percent.
Supertanker BW Ulan loaded 2 million barrels of crude at the Mina al Ahmadi port and will head to Ulsan in South Korea, live ship-tracking data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows.
Three other supertankers – Eneos Spirit, Al Salheia and Elizabeth I.A. – are anchored off the Kuwaiti port, waiting to load crude, according to the data.

The PSV Rem Stadt (UT-746, built Brattvaag 1996, 5,372 dwt) has been sold to Indian Owner TAG Offshore.
The Remoy Shipping-owned PSV is due to be delivered to TAG Offshore in April 2016. The vessel will be renamed TAG 20 and has secured a long term charter with ONGC.
Fearnley Offshore Supply said the price is reportedly US$3.75 million 'as is – where is.'

Broker Chart Shipping says the AHTS Crest Meridian1 (8,158bhp) was delivered recently to Pacific Radiance from Chinese yard Nantong Tongshun Shiprepair and Building.
Its sister vessel, Crest Meridian 2, will be delivered in September of this year.

roon Offshore Services has taken delivery of VOS Star from Fujian Southeast Shipbuilding in China. The vessel was delivered on 13 April 2016 and is a DP2, SPS-coded, 68m subsea support vessel, the second of two newbuilding SSVs that have been constructed at Fujian.
Sister vessel VOS Sugar was delivered to Vroon earlier this year and will be named in a ceremony to be held later this week in IJmuiden, the Netherlands.
Both vessels feature an active heave-compensated crane, plus a retractable and a super-silent tunnel bow thruster, enhancing DP performance, fuel efficiency and features for crew/client wellbeing. A high-speed client communication system - including internet connectivity and hotel-type comfort - ensures optimum on-board facilities for client personnel.
VOS Sugar and VOS Star form an expansion of Vroon’s SSV fleet, enabling provision of advanced, efficient and versatile options in a variety of offshore sub-segments, including windfarm support, walk-to-work and IMR. www.oilpubs.com/o...

On Apr 19, 2016 at 12:17 a.m. the CROSS Etel was contacted by the "Introun Varia An Esperans" off Penmarc'h. It relays a request for assistance from the fishing vessel "Notre Dame de Kerizinen II - MX.686424", 113 gt (IMO: 8873867) aboard which one of the crew members, aged 49, lost consciousness. The information was confirmed a few minutes later by the Maritime Medical Consultation Centre (MMCC) in Toulouse which has just received a phone call fromthe "Notre Dame de Kerizinen II". The ship was 110 miles west of Penmarc'h. Following a conference call with the Maritime Medical Consultation Centre (MMCC) of Toulouse, the Maritime Medical Coordination (SCMM) of Finistère and the ship, the decision was made to evacuate the man by helicopter to the hospital de la Cavale Blanche in Brest. A Cayman helicopter of the naval air base Lanvéoc Poulmic took off with a medical team on board at 1 p.m. and reached the ship an hour later. The patient was hoisted aboard the Cayman and delivered at the hospital at 3:27 p.m.. French report with photos: https://www.premar-atlant...

The direct-action marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd announced it effectively ended illegal fishing in Antarctica after the last six unlawful vessels believed to be operating in the region — called the Bandit 6 — were either destroyed or detained by officials. All six of those vessels have been brought to justice, and Sea Shepherd has shut down illegal fishing in Antarctica,” said Captain Peter Hammarstedt, of Sea Shepherd’s vessel the MY Bob Barker, in a video released by the organization.
The MY Bob Barker set the record for the longest marine chase — 110 days — in the process, when it pursued the ship Thunder, resulting in its eventual capture. Interpol released a Purple Notice on the Thunder in 2013, essentially a “wanted” bulletin, and it was sought by several international organizations. news.nationalpost...

The Coast Guard Cutter Munro crew returned to Kodiak, Alaska, after a 103 day deployment.
The Munro crew left Kodiak on Jan. 5, 2016, and spent 31 days in San Diego, California, for a bi-annual operational assessment, returning to Kodiak briefly on Feb. 5, 2016. The crew of Munro was assessed for and received excellence ratings for their competencies in navigation, seamanship, engineering, electronics, damage control, warfare, gunnery, medical, and communications exercises. www.military.com/...

Cape May-Lewes Ferry officials announced Monday that $6 million grant has been issued from the Federal Transit Administration, through the Passenger Ferry Grant Program, to help repower and retrofit the Motor Vessel (MV) New Jersey and MV Cape Henlopen.
The vessels, which are more than 40 years old, will get new engines. Their current engines are reportedly approaching 100,000 operating hours or the equivalent of 1.5 million miles.
According to DRBA's Vice Chairman James Hogan, the new engines are more efficient and will burn less fuel, so emissions will reportedly be reduced by nearly 40 percent.
According to Public Information Officer James Salmon, the ferry expects to save approximately $130,000 per year in maintenance costs associated with old engines, and plans to reduce fuel use by 39,600 gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by 443 tons annually. www.wmdt.com/news...